1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to label application apparatus and is particularly useful in roll-on label applying operations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Labeling apparatus using a roll-on label operation is known in the prior art, for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,183,138; 3,472,722 and 4,090,904. While such apparatus has been useful the machines have been complex, expensive and have required substantial maintenance. Moreover, as the preference for plastic polyethylene labels has grown, the development of apparatus of applying such labels has not kept pace within the context of providing relatively simple and inexpensive machines that can operate at desired label application speeds. In addition, the polyethylene labels themselves have special properties that make their use in some prior art machines difficult and/or that can be utilized in a new approach to more successfully apply such labels. In particular, a new approach for successfully dispensing individual labels to containers as they pass a dispenser was needed.